The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an integrated circuit, a measurement apparatus for an integrated circuit, and a wafer.
Presently, integrated circuits are used in a variety of applications. In order to improve the productivity of integrated circuits, a plurality of integrated circuit chips are simultaneously manufactured on a single wafer. More specifically, devices and wiring patterns for a plurality of integrated circuits are formed on a wafer. Then, a dicing process is performed to divide the wafer into a plurality of chips to form the integrated circuits. Before dividing the wafer into chips, each integrated circuit undergoes a conduction test, which is referred to as a probe test.
A typical probe test is conducted by pressing a probe needle against a bonding pad of the chip so as to test the operation of the chip. Contact between the probe needle and the bonding pad must be ensured during the probe test to reduce contact resistance between the bonding pad and the probe needle. However, the bonding pad may be damaged if the probe needle is pressed too hard against the bonding pad. Therefore, research has been carried out to develop a method for manufacturing a semiconductor that avoids damaging of the bonding pad during the probe test (refer to, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 8-306751).
In the invention described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 8-306751, a probe pad is arranged in a region between chips along a scribe line. The probe pad is connected to a bonding pad by a wire. A probe needle is pressed against the probe pad to conduct the probe test through the bonding pad. This prevents the bonding pad of the chip from being damaged even if the pressure of the probe needle damages the probe pad.
However, in the invention of Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 8-306751, the probe pad is connected to the bonding pad by a wire. Therefore, capacitance generated between the substrate and a wire or bonding pad may interfere and lower measurement accuracy. The influence of such capacitance is particularly prominent when conducting a probe test with high-frequency waves.